No legal impediment for schemes named after political leaders: Supreme Court

THither is no effectual impediment for welfare schemes named after political leaders, the sublime margaret court has said, background aside a Madras high court order prohibiting Tamil Nadu from launching a welfare scheme named after chief minister MK Stalin.The Supreme Court castigated All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) lawmaker CV Shanmugam for singling out a scheme and Stalin without challenging similar schemes with names of political leaders and fined him ₹10 lakh to be deposited with the state government.The court warned of contempt of court action if Shanmugam failed to comply with its order and directed the state to utilise ₹10 lakh in a scheme for underprivileged sections. “...schemes in the name of political leaders are a phenomenon followed throughout the country….When such schemes are floated in the name of such political leaders, we do not appreciate the anxiety of the petitioner to choose only one political party and one political leader,” said a bench of Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria. “Singling out one political party smacks of the motive of the petitioner.”The bench said if the petitioner was so concerned about the misuse of public funds by political parties, he could have challenged all such schemes. It added courts cannot be the forum for settling political scores. “...political battles must be fought before the electorate.”The bench called the petition against the scheme misconceived and an abuse of the process of law. It noted it was filed on July 21, three days after Shanmugam moved a representation to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking suspension of DMK’s recognition.The bench said the petition failed to give any “breathing time” for the ECI to consider his plea. It added that he approached the high court in such a hurried manner and said that the representation is not decided. “The petitioner has tried to castigate the ECI.”Senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson, who appeared for the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), submitted that the high court wrongfully applied judgments of the Supreme Court to justify the interim stay. Rohatgi said that the Supreme Court frowned upon the use of public funds for the glorification of political parties and their propaganda in the Common Cause versus Union of India (2014, 2015). In subsequent decisions in 2016 and 2017, this rule was diluted by permitting photos of chief ministers and ministers in charge of issuing the advertisements to announce schemes or initiatives.Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the state government, pointed out that none of these judgments put restrictions on the names of political leaders to be used in government schemes. He submitted a list of 45 central and state schemes bearing the names of political leaders.Advocate general PS Raman pointed out that Shanmugam was a minister in the AIADMK government when 23 schemes were launched in the name of the then chief minister, J Jayalalithaa.On June 19, the state government announced the “Ungaludan Stalin (Stalin is with you)” scheme to take the government’s benefits and services to the doorstep of beneficiaries.